Midnight snow
by Justanothersinger
Summary: Takes place during one of the many trips of Teito Klein and Frau...Teito starts to get premonitions of an evil to come and starts getting help and hindrance from unexpected places...
1. Shadowed Existence

Midnight Snow: Chapter 1

Shadowed Existence

It was dark.

So dark.

He couldn't remember what had brought him to this place. The little memories he had were trickling out of his mind a little more, every time he tried to remember.

He let a groan of frustration escape his lips.

He felt the darkness wrap around his body like a cloak, the cold silkiness of it making him shiver, desperate for warmth...

He raised his hands against his face and felt the cold silk rub against it.

Wait a minute. There _was _something wrapped on his body.

His eyes snapped open. The first thing he saw was a shapeless black..._thing_ hovering near his face. With a start, he realized it was his hand in some kind of billowing, long sleeve.

He slowly pushed himself up to his feet.

He was in some kind of forest clearing. The trees he saw were dark green with spiky leaves, covered with a diamond-like frosting of snow. _Pine trees. Snow? Well, that would explain the cold..._

He was wrapped in a black, hooded cloak that seemed eerily familiar. He raised his arms and the sleeve fell back. With a start he saw a glowing, red stone fused to the back of his palm.

_Wait a second! I recognize this stone..._He thought, eyes widening. He started suddenly as he felt a presence make itself known in the for

_It has been long since we saw each other..._

The thought rebounded in his head. But it was not his own.

_Mikhail? Is that..._

_Yes. It is me. It is wonderful to see you again, Master._

His eyes widened. He would have given anything..._anything_...to hear that voice, one that sounded so much like his, but with a cynical tone that adorned it and ascertained the majesty of the angel to whom it belonged.

But how? Why...? It wasn't even in his possession anymore...was this some kind of delusion? Or was the voice speaking to him really the Archangel Mikhail?

_Master. We must not stay._

His attention was snapped back to the angel. With a start, he realized the confident tone was gone from his voice. Now Mikhail seemed wary and almost...scared.

_Is it Ayanami? _The boy asked, gritting his teeth as the name slid past his lips. For all his promises of pursuing true justice, he couldn't bring himself to justify that person's cruelty...and Kami alone knows what torture that person was planning next.

_It is not him. But at the same time, it is...him._

_What do you mean?  
_

_I wish I could tell you more, Master. But I..._

With a blinding flash, the red stone vanished from his hand.

"_Mikhail!"_ The boy yelled, both in his mind and with his voice. The only answer was the whisper of the freezing winds as it blew past him. The boy shivered again, this time from the sense of foreboding in his heart and not from the cold.

What was Mikhail trying to tell him?

The boy sank to the ground in weary frustration. It seemed pointless, all of it. What would he find in a faraway land that would add to his lost memories? What was so important that only person Father took was a little boy, even if the boy was the heir to the Raggs Kingdom?

Why was the Eye of Mikhail, his only remaining link to his past and the very object of power Father, Dad and Mikage sacrificed themselves for, something that was long since lost to Ayanami, trying to reach out to him, to contact him?

For the hundredth time, the boy wondered whether the path of light was truly the path he walked upon now. Would Mikage approve of his decision?

He wouldn't know. He wasn't pure of heart, like the sweet blonde-haired boy who showed him salvation.

While the boy had been thinking, the cold wind picked up around him and swayed around his fragile form, growing stronger with each thought, as if responding to his frustration.

The boy clutched the robe, his eyes getting wide.

_You can accomplish nothing on your own..._

Another whisper filled his mind. But unlike the unnerving, yet oddly comforting presence of the Guardian Angel Mikhail, it held nothing warm. Cold as the thousand-year old snow that surrounded the landscape around him.

_A Kor!_

The thought pierced through his consciousness, giving him the strength to leap to his feet and run. Run far away from this confusing reality. Run away from the Kor that threatened.

Everything.

"Someone..." The words escaped his lips in a weak whisper, a gasp of pain. _Help me..._

Another brilliant flash of light...a wordless shriek erupted from the Kor behind him as a purple scythe with sacred Zaiphon engravings on its blade descended mere inches from the boy's back.

_Verloren's scythe...which means...!_

"Frau!" Teito Klein turned.

A tall figure, cloaked in a black robe, the robe, Teito realised with a start, that matched the boy's, and marked him forever as a 07 Ghost. A hollow skull glared out from under the hood at Teito's attacker; a young man with long, red hair.

At the sound of his voice though, the Bishop turned around.

"Damned brat..." was all he said.

The Kor whimpered on the ground, pleading mercy.

"I didn't mean to offend you, Lord Zehel...I wanted to possess the boy's soul to please _him. _Surely as the wielder of _his _scythe, you'll understand what I mean?"

Zehel did not answer. He simply stared at the pleading Kor in front of him, and looked at the boy slowly.

_I do. I can sympathise with your plight, but I do not traffic with darkness, Kor._

The voice originated not from the master, but from the scythe itself. Teito shivered and the Ghost looked at him again.

_Yet, this human..._

The scythe stretched towards Teito, who automatically stepped back. He remembered the unnatural attraction; Verloren's scythe had a liking towards the boy's soul and the taste of his blood.

"Brat. Get out of here. Get out of here _now._"

Teito's eyes widened as he saw the scythe leave the Kor and leer directly at him.

"Frau?" He whispered, his voice terrified.

"Teito. I want you to promise me something. Do me one last favour." The boy's eyes widened as the grown man's voice wavered and changed little by little. Until it became virtually unrecognizable coming from his mouth...a light, almost airy tone that was darkened down with a grave decision that would change the fabric of nature.

_Last favour? _Teito's heart gripped painfully at those words...it was tied to a memory that threatened to explode at the back of his head, and expose him to gut-wrenching pain, worse than a thousand years of torture.

"Kill me, Teito."

It was dark.

So dark.

Calm and peaceful.

A fragment of the God of Death Verloren revelled in the darkness. It represented his essence.

His existence was cloaked in shadow. His existence was cold. He was comfortable in the wary silence. The few snatches of peace that threatened to break at the slightest whisper.

And it did.

A piercing, heartbreaking scream broke through the night.

Violet-blue eyes snapped open, widening as they registered the shrill scream.

_Teito! That's Teito's voice!_

"Teito!" Frau leapt up and clambered over to the thrashing form on the bed next to his.

"S-stop! D-don't... please..." The boy whimpered. Frau closed a cold hand on the boy's shoulder and the boy shrieked even more, tears running down his face.

"Brat! Wake up! Wake up, you're dreaming." Frau shook the boy's shoulders.

Teito's eyes snapped open and he regarded the man in front of him.

_!_

Frau froze.

The emerald in his eyes was dulled. There was no fire. Nothing.

_This kid is still dreaming? _Frau thought as he carefully let go of the boy's shoulders. "It's ok, kid. It's just me."

Teito just gazed at Frau unseeingly. The shrieks had stopped, but the tears kept flowing.

"Burupyaa..." The little pink Fyulong dragon clambered over to his master's side, squeaking sadly.

"Mikage..." Teito whispered hoarsely, more tears splashing through the sightless green eyes, "Mikage...please no..."  
"It's going to be alright, kid. Mikage's here." Frau gently pulled the boy into his arms. "Come on, Mikage. Teito needs you." Mikage jumped on Teito's shoulder and settled near the boy's shoulder. The shudders wracking the boy's body eventually stilled, as he petted the warm, soft furball that was his best friend.

"Frau?" The emeralds that looked up at him now, were clear and bright. Frau stifled a sigh of relief. "Right here, ya damned brat."

"I-I'm not a damned brat." Teito retaliated with a return of spirit. He even attempted a weak punch, which the Bishop easily parried. "You scared the hell out of me." Frau admitted, if a little grudgingly, "I thought Ayanami himself had snuck in when I was out." Teito attempted a weak chuckle. "Ayanami wouldn't come. I would know. He'd scare the hell out of _me_, by threatening the ones I loved dearly. Besides, he always sends his Black Hawk lackeys to do his dirty work for him."

Just thinking of Ayanami and the Black Hawks reminded him of the Eye of Mikhail in the Chief's hands...and...

Frau noticed the renewed trembling in the boy's shoulders. "Teito, what happened? What did you dream that scared you so badly?"

Teito looked away. He saw the bright, crescent moon that shone through the window, whose silvery light seemed to reach him. Warm him. Strengthen him.

Frau may be the only one he could tell right now. He was involved in the whole business after all. Being an 07 Ghost, he was directly linked to Archangel Mikhail, Pandora's Box and the Death God Verloren, whom Ayanami seemed interested in.

He was the only one who would listen to Teito's story.

"Can we please discuss this in the morning, Frau?" Teito's voice adopted a sleepy tone. Which wasn't at all hard to do; it was pretty late and he was already bushed from all the travelling. Frau raised an eyebrow.

Teito could tell he wasn't fooled.

"I just woke up after..." Frau checked the clock, "four hours of sleep, by some brat thrashing and screaming, practically wetting his bed. Evidently because of some _bad dream._" at the words, he made air quotes with his fingers, "And now he expects me to hit the hay and pretend nothing ever happened. Kid, I may be a perverted letch who gets it on with every pretty woman in sight, but I'm not _stupid._"

"So you admit it." Teito gave him a grin, which turned into a grimace, when he saw that Frau was not in a mood to forget it just yet.

"Teito..." Frau's voice took on a dangerous, warning tone. The boy merely shrugged and pulled Mikage off his shoulder, petting the little dragon gently.

"Goodnight." Without another word, he snuggled between the layers of quilts on the bed.

Frau sighed and settled on his own bed. He rolled to his side and listened quietly. The sound of Teito's uneven breathing continued to pace through the night. Apparently, the brat wasn't as sleepy as he implied.

Teito shivered and clutched the blankets tightly. Cursing quietly under his breath at the sheer cold night, he waited for the first rays of morning sun to come up.

_The first thing I'm going to do is take a long shower. In hot water. Provided Frau doesn't get in first and use it all up. Again. _As his eyes started to close wearily, flashes of the dream immediately had him awake.

_Damn it..._He sighed and curled up into a more comfortable position. He squinted blearily at the clock's reflection on the window-pane. _At least there aren't that many hours between now and daylight...I'll just wait a little bit longer..._

He tried to close his eyes again, and groaned softly as the flashed raced through his mind again. The cold chill penetrated his body and wracked his soul, sapping away the last of his strength...until a strange chill, more familiar to Teito, touched him and drove the flashes away.

His eyes snapped open to see two long arms, in a familiar dark blue coat, wrapped around his body. His face was tilted slightly towards a stone chest that was as cold as marble.

"I told you before, I'm not stupid. You're a horrible liar, Teito." Frau whispered in his ear. The boy huffed in indignation, but settled in to his embrace gratefully, throwing away his pride and trying to concentrate on resting. Mikage happily crept in between them both and in the time the boy took to blink confusedly at him, the Fyulong dragon was asleep.

"Frau..."

"Hmm?"

"Thank you. For being there." The quiet voice penetrated the silence between them, as Teito wrapped his own arms around the older man's waist and nuzzled into his chest. Frau stiffened a little, but welcomed the embrace.

_That must have been one heck of a nightmare to scare him so badly..._Frau settled his chin on top of the boy's head, _It must be horrible; enough for him to keep it a secret. And do this...normally the brat'd have way too much pride to confide in someone else. Must come with belonging to the royal family or something..._Frau yawned contentedly.

And in the embrace of the other, bishop and apprentice slept dreamlessly until dawn burned through the sky, bright and fair, to...almost cruelly break them apart.

Frau glared over the heads of the people who were between him and the object of his irritation.

Normally, his grumpiness would be easily explained by the fact he wasn't really a morning person. Hell, he was a god who revelled in the night. More to the point, he usually stayed out at night, hunting down the Kor using his trusty green-eyed Kor magnet.

And now he can't even use _those _excuses. Because he had to endure a whole night with the most spoilt brat he ever met whose mood swings were the stuff of legend.

_Teito's consciousness returned with a start and he sighed. Another day of travelling on that piece of junk Frau called _transportation._ He didn't care that it was a highly-expensive piece of military equipment with the latest fly gear, it was still a pain in the damn ass to sit on; he was in constant danger of being blown away on the wind._

_His head was swimming, his eyes were burning and his arm was sore stiff. He sighed and moved his head slowly, rising from his pillow. He had scarcely moved it however when he realized that that there was something heavy and cold wedged in his locks._

_He froze. Slowly, cautiously, he raised his arm and touched a cold hand. From what he could tell, the fingers had been twisting his hair and the palm was trailing down his neck. He shivered slowly as his head cleared up enough to register the deep breath wafting near his ear._

_Teito cracked an eye open and saw the contours of a chest, strong and gentle, as the cold arms gently cradled him in an embrace. Teito looked up and saw a well-defined face inches away from his forehead, breathing deeply._

_With a jolt, he remembered all of it; being stranded in some snowy landscape, contacted by Mikhail, attacked by a Kor, seeing Frau, hearing what he had to say...waking up to realise it was a dream, Frau questioning him, going back to sleep...and realising that Frau had crawled into his bed and cradled him to sleep._

"_GAH!" Teito shrieked, throwing the man off the bed and clambering against the head-board. "The hell are you doing, you damned brat?" Frau demanded, his head reappearing at the side of the bed. "That's what _I _should be asking, you perverted bishop!" Teito yelled back._

The battle that ensued was a big one, even by their standards. Even though Frau was just trying to help.

Teito looked back towards the bishop and wasn't at all surprised to see that the blonde man was still fuming over what happened earlier. _Really, he's such a kid. _Teito _was_ guilty that he had to make the man pissed. But that was better than the expression on Frau's face if he ever found out that Teito had been dreaming of him. Shivering involuntarily, he continued browsing the rest of the stalls, taking as much time as possible, walking slowly towards the bishop.

"Mikage." Frau addressed the light pink dragon chewing on his hair, "Would you mind leaving my spikes alone and going to that brat for sometime?" Mikage regarded Frau and nodding his head, ran over to Teito.

Frau sighed and started walking to the nearby church, knowing that the kid was following him. _One day, when this whole mess is solved, I am going to ask what Teito was dreaming about. Even if I have to use that collar, I'm _still _going to wrench that answer out...what the hell did he dream that he would keep a secret from me...?_

_Unless he was dreaming of me..._

Frau stopped dead when that thought, unbidden, crept into his mind. _What the hell am I thinking? Jeez, I really am turning into a pervert._

"Aachoo!" He heard a sneeze behind him and turned around to see Teito marching up to him, one hand sheltering Mikage tenderly, the other clutching his cloak tightly around his small frame. Emerald eyes met eyes of violet-blue and for a brief moment, Frau saw a shadow in the kid's that he saw all too often before; the tell-tale sign that the kid was putting up a strong front. Preventing Frau from seeing something.

"Hurry up, brat. We have to get to that church and go back to our place before sundown." Frau called. Teito nodded and strode faster. As Frau looked ahead, he saw the sun streak the sky in red and gold. The sight always reminded him of their first trip together, the day they fled from the army.

The man always had a shadowy existence; the double-sided coin. One, a caring-if a perverted and childish-man who chose the occupation of a bishop and became one at all odds to save people. The other, a cold-eyed monster who ripped out the souls of murderers and killers. It was a god-complex and he acknowledged that. He just wanted to save people at the expense of his humanity.

He also had to protect Teito, and not because of Mikage's sacrifice or the fact that he was the carrier of the Eye of Mikhail.

It was because the brat was the only one outside the Seven Ghosts that knew the extent of Frau's sins and still trusted him. He fought with him, he always drove Frau crazy with his mood-swings and secrecy, but the kid trusted him with his life.

And the man with the shadowed existence was now paired up with the wielder of the Biblical light. Frau smiled grimly at the irony of it. But strangely, he felt comforted by the fact that Teito believed in him. He knew Castor and Labrador also did, but when it came down to it, he needed Teito.

While the bishop had been musing, Teito managed to catch up to him and looked curiously at Frau's faraway expression. "Frau?" Teito asked cautiously, "What's the matter?"  
"Nothing, ya damned brat." Frau fixed his evil grin in place, "Just wondering my...strategy for tonight's patrol will be." Teito narrowed his eyes at Frau, "More like your shopping list for your latest stash of porn. While flirting with the maintenance girl."  
"Jealous?" Frau's grin grew more pronounced. "You wish!" Teito spat back. He was the one marching ahead this time, walking faster when he heard a hearty guffaw behind him. Frau watched him go, and looked at the slowly darkening sky again. Mikage had left his master's side and clambered onto Frau's shoulder, as its owner glanced at him wearily. But the Fyulong dragon just said, "Burupyaa~" contentedly and looked at Teito with warm eyes**.**

Frau found himself following the dragon's line of sight.

_I'll definitely keep protecting you, Teito. _He promised.


	2. Crimson Warning

Midnight Snow: Chapter 2

Crimson Warning

Teito was a boy who wasn't really accustomed to living in the world outside the Church and Army. Sure, he had often gone to movies and Hawkzile races with Mikage in his days back at the academy, but that was pretty much it.

So, he wasn't really sure what to make of the city of Zion**[1]**.

Frau took one look at the teen's awestruck face and raised an eyebrow, "Kid, your mouth is touching the floor. Just so you know."

"Shut up, damned bishop." Teito automatically replied, as he continued staring at the scenery; the towering town-houses, museums, parks, cafes and stores, their roofs glittering with their complimentary layer of crystalline snow, at the lamps glowing with crackling blue energy, lighting up the sky, at the variety of lights and colours that adorned the signs and-

At this point, Teito finally noticed that the bishop had grown weary of his new-found fascination with the city and had proceeded to drag him towards the nearby inn.

"Let go of me!" He demanded hotly, flaring up even more when he noticed the bishop's wicked grin. Mikage had leaped onto the bishop's hair and started chewing the man's spikes again.

"We're getting a bit conspicuous." Frau said, as he noted the curious stares of the passer-bys.

"It might be because of our bishop robes." Teito said, pointing to his Church garb.

"Yeah, brat. Blame it on the bishop robes and not on the pink fluff-ball eating what's left of my hair and the little kid gawking at the crowd."

"And what about the huge, perverted, man-mountain?" Teito asked, glaring at the bishop.

Frau was about to make a reply, when a voice interrupted, "Excuse me?" The two turned around to see a young man with long, white hair walk up to them. "Are you first-time visitors of the city?"

"Yeah, I guess you can say that. We were just passing through." Frau replied.

"Would you happen to be Frau, a bishop from the Seventh District?"

Teito tensed, looking at the man warily. Had their identities been exposed? Did the army get wind of their arrival? Frau's left hand, the one that still held Teito's collar, squeezed lightly. The kid looked up to see the man's eyes flashing right at his.

_Don't worry. _They said, _They don't suspect anything._

"Yes. I am. How do you know my name?"

The man's face lightened, "Thank goodness! We were informed that a bishop and apprentice would be on the way to our city, but we were worried whether you would make it on time!"

"Wait, what?"

"Oh, I'm sorry. My name is Roland Zion and I'm the Mayor's son. We were recently contacted by two bishops of the Barsburg Church, who informed us of your arrival. They assured us that you would be here in time for the year's end celebrations for the baptism ceremony."

"...Would those bishops happen to be named Castor and Labrador?"

"Why, yes! They had said that..."

Now that the imminent danger of being recognized was past, Teito looked away from the conversation as the bishop sputtered on and resumed looking at the city. Truthfully, it wasn't really the unique features of the city that caught his attention. It was the people.

There were so many people. Even though Zion was a big city, its inhabitants poured in from all sides, tramping the paved streets. Crowds usually unnerved the boy; even more so, now that he had a reason to be cautious.

As he peered through the throng of people, he saw several of them wearing brightly-coloured costumes and dancing on the streets, children waving around little toys and stuffed animals, men and women alike carrying lanterns with strangely-coloured flames, surrounded by a ring of Zaiphon.

_They must be celebrating the coming of the new year, _He thought, absent-mindedly plucking Mikage from Frau's hair and petting the tiny dragon. Mesmerized by the flames, dancing under the blue sky, it was there that he felt it.

It started slowly, like the trailing of water against skin, like a constant, irritating itch, felt but ignored. Then there was the fire-red flash of colour in his eyes and the white-hot sensation down his back.

Eyes widening, he looked around and froze. Holding up a glowing gold lantern and staring right at him was a little girl. She was clutching her mother's arm and looked like she was barely able to stand in the freezing cold, but her eyes, a brilliant blue colour, burned into Teito's with intense ferocity. Like she was trying to peer into the boy's soul.

Teito tried to break away from the strong gaze, but found that he couldn't move. All he could do was keep looking into icy blue pools, feeling like he was drowning in them...

"Oi, brat. We have to get to our inn before sundown."

Frau's voice broke shattered the silence of the night air, breaking the spell. Teito blinked and just looked at the man's face.

"Brat?"

"...Yeah. I'm coming." As he looked back towards the crowd, even in the dim lighting of the dying flame, that the girl was gone.

It was time. The time that Frau had been dreading ever since they had entered the city of Zion. Heck, the man dreads this particular moment every time he enters a new town.

Frau sighed in defeat as the latest batch of paperwork slid down the chute.

_Does this damn thing get thicker everyday? _He thought irritably, hefting the pile of complaints in one arm. There was a letter from the two bishops, no doubt informing him of the latest job he had to do...albeit a bit late.

He looked to his side and saw Teito hadn't made any move to collect his mail. "Oi, brat. We have to be at the inn by sundown; no time to daydream."

Teito immediately snapped out of it and glared at him, "Don't call me a brat, perverted man-mountain!" 

Frau snorted and returned to his paperwork. The boy immediately deflated. _I better stop thinking about what happened earlier, _he mused as he inserted his badge in the post box, _If I continue, Frau will definitely know something's wrong. And I don't want him thinking I can't do anything without his help. Especially after...yesterday. _For some reason, as he re-visited that particular memory, his cheeks turned cherry red. He was mentally shaking himself senseless when a letter slid into his slot.

_I wonder what Hakuren has written about this time. _He thought as he opened the letter.Last he had heard, the boy was complaining that the Church had grown extremely dull because of the storms in the area; they prevented the visitors from town to come regularly.

He started reading the letter.

_**To one whose treasure is a priceless red stone,**_

_**Thy hath incurred the wrath of Heaven, **_

_**For thy sin of mere existence,**_

_**Blood and water mixed in amber gold, **_

_**Of Hatred and Love,**_

_**Shall be thy saviour and destructor,**_

_**Guardians shall fall, one by one,**_

_**Dear sweet lamb, what shall you do?**_

_**Will you fight against the evil so dark?**_

_**Or shall you sleep in the lightning-struck tower?**_

_**From one whose eyes are pools of ice.**_

With every line Teito read, he could feel the cold numbness creeping up his skin again. With a shudder, he wrenched his eyes away from the letter...and was met with deep, cerulean blue ones.

"You alright, kid?" Frau's concern actually sounded genuine. Teito hastily re-arranged his features and said in a nonchalant tone, "Frau...what do you make of this?"

The elder man looked at the letter and frowned, "Now that's strange."

"Isn't it? Why would-?"

"Someone try to send you a blank letter? Might've been an accident, kid. Nothing to worry about." Frau had turned back to his pile of letters, so he didn't see the hand that crumpled up the 'blank' letter.

"Well, anyway. If you haven't got any more mail, we might as well go, kid. Dinner's going to be served in a few hours and I heard there's a wide variety of meat in that hotel."

He did notice the small space of time between Teito's hesitation and his automatic response, "Stupid bishop. Eat any more meat and you'll turn into a cow someday."

"Now that'll be a crying shame, kid. All the ladies of the world will miss my hot body."

"When that day comes, they'll be on their knees, chanting, 'Alleluia.'"

Again, the response was delayed. Frau peeked behind his shoulder to see the kid pulling his robe tighter around himself.

As if he was afraid of the darkness swallowing his soul completely.

He had been here before.

True, all beings of Earth, mortals and death-gods alike, visit this place during the period between the light of the sun and the dark of the moon. But he was the one who truly dreaded his return to that place.

He didn't know why. He just dreaded it.

He continued to walk on the wary path known as the Dream.

Pulling his cloak tighter around himself, he trudged against the blowing wind, showering hail on his head. Drawing in a long, shaky breath, he looked up.

A dilapidated building stood before him, the only one for miles, sticking out amidst the snowy landscape like a thumb. The sign above the entryway was old and faded, the door stood off its hinges.

He stumbled through the doorway and made his way into the room, sinking to his knees on the floor.

"You came."

He didn't look behind him. He didn't have to. He already knew that she stood there.

"Such an obedient child. I've always liked obedient children. Tell me, what is your name?"

"I live without name or native place. I exist with neither father nor mother. I live for the mere purpose of fighting battles and the summoner's call. You have summoned me and I, as a slave, have come to serve you."

"Hmm. Might as well work with him until I find out who that other bishop was."

He lived only to serve and she had chosen him to serve her.

So why did he feel so uneasy? He looked up, into her face and saw twin, icy pools, smile cruelly back at him. In those pools, he felt like an ant trapped in the water, struggling against the tide, but getting sucked in deeper and deeper...

Stop! A sklave mustn't look into the eyes of his master! He quickly tore her eyes away from hers and looked at the floor instead.

...Sklave? He meant slave...didn't he?

Alarm bells rang in his head at this point, but they faded into a dull buzz in his ears. He listened only to his master. And he listened to her now, as she continue her speculation of her use for him. That's what a sk-...slave would do.

What was going on? He knew what he was, he knew what he was made to be. He had no past, he had no future. Only the present.

He doesn't have any capability to doubt or question. Not even to think.

...But he was thinking _now _wasn't he? He sighed in frustration, rubbing his sleeve across his face. It had become a habit he had picked up...picked up from where?

Something in him made him stop and he stared at the sleeve. Black silk, with a velvet feel. It smelled strange. Sweet and alluring, the perfume of flowers. Sinful and reeking, the stench of death.

Looking at the robe, he felt the stirring of a memory, behind the faith of a brain-dead slave, worse than fog.

Death. Blood. Bodies everywhere.

He remembered the stench of decaying flesh from his days as a sklave...not slave. Sklave.

Rescued by the light.

Threatened by Darkness once again.

_I am a sinner. I am a prince. I am a sklave._

The words pounded in his head, fighting the spell. Making him remember.

_I am..._

"Teito Klein!"

The shout rang through the air as her voice lashed out in fury. With a start, Teito leaped from the floor just in time to avoid a shower of glass from the newly-broken window.

Dazed, he looked at the woman...no, the girl before him.

She was there, dressed in the same clothes as she had been that morning; in lavender and cherry blossom pink. Her reddish-gold hair hung in a crackling halo around her face, framing the fury in her eyes.

"What the hell-?" Teito sputtered, stumbling against the door, "How did I get here?"

"You snapped out of the spell! No! Not yet!" She shrieked at him, "You can't wake up! Continue sleeping. _Sleep!_"

The last part was layered in a honey-like voice, but instinct made Teito clap his hands in his ears. He felt a peculiar sensation, like water trickling down his back, and with it, he regained the last of his memory.

"What have you done with Frau?" He barked at the girl, looking around wildly for the bishop.

"Your precious bishop is fine. It's _you _yourself, you should be worried about." She laughed drolly.

"What do you want with me?" 

"I'm quite interested in you, Teito Klein."

It finally struck him. She had called his name before, _she knew who he was._

"How do you know my name?" His voice was quiet, low and guarded.

"We have all heard of your escapade from your army. They're offering a price for you right now; to be captured. Alive, as preferred." She smiled at him, a perverted, twisted version for the angel-like face, "I was curious. So I researched you and found out you know an old friend of mine."

"Who the hell are you? You're just a little girl!"

Her face clouded dangerously, "No. I was cursed to wear this body as an eternity of shame. But, you should know I am _far _from a normal girl. Now, I shall ask you a question. And you will answer it. _Answer it truthfully._"

"No!" He shouted, lunging at her.

There was a sudden _crack _and he was thrown back against the wooden walls. "You can't summon your Zaiphon here." She laughed drolly, "You're more powerless than a five-year old."

"Yeah, right!" He spat, climbing back to his feet.

"I grow weary of this. If you were unconscious perhaps, you would fare better." She frowned a little, as if concentrating. Without any warning, bolts of topaz lightning erupted from the walls of the house and headed straight for him.

Teito yelled, covering his eyes.

There was a sound of striking metal and a flash of light, knocking him backwards. He lay sprawled on the floor, blinking at the stars dancing on the ceiling.

"Am...I dead?" His voice was stronger than he expected. His musings were interrupted by an exasperated shriek.

_No. Not dead, then. _He pulled himself up carefully, and blinked again to re-adjust his vision.

She was still there, alright. Her hands pulled at her hair and her eyes were wild with fury. He could see why. There was a ruby-red barrier pulsing a few feet before him. Protecting him from her attack.

He approached the barrier cautiously, and slowly, carefully put his hands on it.

A startling presence filled the room, overshadowing them both with its mighty power. It lulled protectively over Teito, giving him the impression of a figure hunched over him.

"Mikhail..." She whispered, a bit more calmly, "Of course. The archangel was protecting you."

"Mikhail...?" The question hung in mid-air, but Teito could feel his response as a new surge of power strengthened the barrier. _He was protecting me all this time. That's how I remembered._

"Why did you want to make me forget? How do you know about Mikhail? You...you wrote that letter earlier, didn't you?"

"Very good, Master Klein. Yes, I wrote the letter and it was intended for only the eyes of an angel to see. You may not know it, but Mikhail was guarding you fiercely for the past couple of days."

"I know." His throat went dry, as he remembered the nightmare from yesterday. _He was warning me not to go any further. He must've known what would happen in that dream._

"He couldn't stop you from entering the place, but he helped you remember who you were." At her words, the barrier swelled and shrunk, crackling angrily.

"It seems I've displeased him. I could barely care less." She looked at him curiously, "However, I want to see how seriously he protects you."

She whipped her arm out in front of her and sent another bolt of lightning towards him. It hit the barrier with another sound of striking metal and flung back towards the girl. She jumped out of the way, shrieking all the way.

"Die! Die! Die!" She yelled, as she flung more bolts of lightning towards him again.

_**Aruji!**_**[2]**_** Get down!**_ The angel's voice filled his mind and Teito shrunk to the floor, closing his eyes.

The light flooded around him, blocking out everything else as it tore at the child's body, ripping his robe to shreds. He gasped and tore at his throat as it burned in fire...

And returned to consciousness.

His eyes opened and he slowly sat up in bed, squinting at the clock. There were still a few more hours left until dawn, but he felt fully awake.

_It was just a dream._ He sighed. It was both breath-taking and terrifying. Terrifying, because he was defenceless for the first time in his life. Breath-taking because he was protected. By his angel.

He sighed. Well, at any rate, it was just a dream. He should probably go back to sleep, otherwise...He took a look at Frau, who lay on his side, shoulders rising and falling with every breath.

He lay on the bed and rolled to the side, waiting for sleep to come, when he saw something strange.

A flash of black.

He opened his hand, attached to the arm he lay on and recoiled when he saw a shred of black fabric lying in his palm. Slowly, he moved it to his face.

Black silk. With the strange, alluring, putrefying smell of flowers and death.

Frau was not asleep as Teito had assumed. He never slept.

So he was awake, the whole time Teito tossed and turned in his sleep. The whole time Teito muttered under his breath. The time Teito returned to consciousness and fell back on the bed again.

And awake to hear the boy cry softly to his pillow for the remainder of the night.

**Hi there! Sorry, I couldn't post this up earlier...I was...engaged with Ante Mortem. **

**Aaaaarrrrgghh...I seriously need to learn to update two stories at a time. Gah. I'm so, so, so, soooo sorry to all those who were waiting for me to post this, especially Wasabi-sama!**

**Gomen ne...**

**Anyway...Welcome to another of my works as an author-in-training; Midnight Snow! Another 07-ghost fanfic...and of course, about Teito and Frau! I am in love with the pair...so cute!**

**I resolve for New Year to post my stories faster and to make sure I don't ignore one of them ever again. **

**...Let's see how long this resolution lasts.**

**Oh, here are the author's notes:**

**[1] Zion: I just made it up. And the inhabitants are all fictional too.**

**[2] Aruji: An old-fashioned term for 'master'. In the anime, the only one who uses it is Mikhail.**

**See you soon! And Happy New Year, folks!**

**-Justanothersinger**


	3. Eternal Nightmare

Midnight Snow: Chapter 3

Eternal Nightmare

This was...unexpected. And apparently, that was only one boy's opinion.

Teito stared suspiciously at the blond man sitting beside him, who didn't seem the least bit put-out by his scrutiny, but instead directing his focus towards the platter of food before him.

Not that that was unusual. This was pretty much the normal routine for the two; so frequent that Teito had given up trying to convince the bishop not to eat meat so early in the morning and just settled down to eat without complaint. It was one of the few enjoyable affairs of the day and it prepared him for the long journeys ahead.

This was the first time they had eaten with company.

Oh, sure, they had eaten in plenty of crowded restaurants with shady managers and leering, scantily-dressed women(Frau would leer right back at them, while Teito suppressed the urge to hit the man on the back of the head), but never with actual company.

And they most certainly had never eaten with dignitaries like _the mayor and his son._

Teito absent-mindedly chewed on a forkful of waffle, thinking about the several possible reasons for this turn of events, while the elder man made small talk with the Mayor. Through it all, he felt the curious eyes of the son watch his every move.

Finally, when he could stand it no longer, he said, "Roland-san? Is there something wrong?"

Roland jumped about a foot in the air before laughing sheepishly, "Ahaha...no, not really. I was just...you are Bishop Frau's apprentice, right?"

"Yeah. I joined him recently." Teito replied, "We've been travelling for quite a few months now."

"I see...you travel all over, then? I imagine you must've seen quite a lot of things along the way."

"You could say that."

"But won't your family and friends be worried? You have to be away from them all the time."

Teito stared at his plate for a long while. Frau, who had listened ardently to their conversation, spoke up, "Teito has-"

"I imagine that they are quite worried about me." Teito said, carefully keeping his eyes away from the young man's, "But they were the ones who encouraged me to travel the bishop's path and...accomplish my goal." He petted Mikage, who was sitting on his shoulder and munching happily on a piece of buttered toast, "And anyway, I have Mikage and Frau with me, so we face the hardships together."

_Until recently._ Teito closed his eyes and hushed the thought guiltily. He didn't want to remember that, not now anyway.

Roland didn't seem to notice, "Oh...that's really nice of them." He glanced at his father, who resumed conversing with Frau, before continuing, "...To tell you the truth, I wanted to write the Bishop's exam too."

"Eh? Really?"

"Yes. But I was soon reminded that I was the only son of the Mayor of Zion and that the immediate choice to replace my father was me." He smiled sadly, "And now the town has gotten pretty busy with the festival. The people here are still excited about the coming of the celebrations, even with the strange happenings recently-"

"Wait." Teito frowned, "Strange happenings?"

"You mean Father has not spoken to you as of yet? I-"

"Roland." They both turned around as the Mayor spoke, "That's quite enough of those stories of yours. Our travellers must rest now in order to prepare for the long night."

Teito looked back long enough to see the hurt look on the boy's face, before he re-arranged his features hastily. "You are right, father. How impertinent of me." He smiled brightly at Teito, looking every inch the politician's son, "I shall see you off to the hotel now. There's a carriage waiting for you, outside."

"Let's go, brat." Frau said, mussing up Teito's hair for the umpteenth time. The teen glared at him and shook the man's hand from his hand. "I'm not a brat." He muttered, looking more and more like a kid.

Roland escorted them both towards the exit and stood near the carriage door, watching as the two entered the carriage.

"So...see you." He said to them. He was about to turn and walk away, when Teito poked his head out the window, "Roland-san?"

"Yes?"

"I'd have believed you anyway." The boy said simply. He withdrew his head and sat in the carriage calmly, but he didn't miss the look of disbelief on Roland's face.

Then, the young man waved them off and the carriage meandered towards their inn.

Silence filled the cabin, looming over the two like a heavy cloud. Teito fidgeted and stared out the window at the city, while the blonde stared at him from the corner of his eye.

_I knew it, _Frau thought, noting the boy's pale skin and the dark circles under his eyes, _He's stayed up last night as well. How long does he plan to forego sleep now?_

This had lasted for little more than a week after Teito's second dream. When the bishop had informed him the next morning that they couldn't travel any further for the time-being because he had to prepare for the baptism ceremony for the New Year's festival, Teito had barely reacted. As it was, a nod and a shrug was hardly the most complicated form of communication.

Frau had pretended to be ignorant of the kid's midnight-horror now, because he honestly had no idea what to do with the kid. He had tried helping the brat, but that didn't go too well. And in all honesty, he really didn't know what the problem was; it just looked like some more bad nightmares.

Except...the ones Teito had before hadn't made him scream in his sleep. And there was something more malicious behind the nightmare. Frau may have control over Verloren's powerful scythe, but it was his instinct that usually made him win a battle.

And it was now yelling at him to talk some sense into the kid.

"That was a good thing, you did there."

"I just said what I thought. It wasn't a big deal." He shrugged, "It's the same thing I learnt from you in the Church." Frau blinked a little at this unspoken compliment, then quickly re-arranged his features. There was something that needed to be done here, and quickly. He stared intently at Teito, trying to figure out what to say to him.

"What?" Teito asked, once he'd noticed the bishop's line of staring.

_Carefully, Frau._

"Is there something you want to tell me, kid?" Frau's eyes narrowed when he'd noticed how white the kid's already-pale face went at that question. "...N-no. Why?" He asked, putting on a confused scowl on his face.

"You've been looking like shit lately. No offence." I added, as he raised his eyebrows at me. "

"Oh really? But I've been very relaxed lately. Except for the fact that I have to stop a crazy, ravenous, older man from drooling over pretty, hooker girls that he happens to see at the shady-looking bars that he takes us to eat breakfast in. Incognito, my..." He continued to mutter some swear words he learnt from the academy, until he remembered who he was conversing with, "...oh and I also have to research the history of the Raggs and the Barsburg kingdoms so I can fulfil my mission. And try to fight off any Kor, Wars and human who tries to do me in."

"Kid." Frau raised an eyebrow, "Just so you know, you have help with the last part." He indicated his arm, the curse tattoo hidden under the coat's long blue sleeve.

Teito snorted and looked out the window again, glaring at the trees ahead.

_He's reacting. What could he be hiding that could disturb him so badly? _Frau thought grimly, as he too stared out the window of the carriage.

_Is it something so bad, he's forced not to tell anyone?_

_And when...not if, _when, _I get it out of the brat, how will he take it?_

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

"Teito..." Frau took one look at the teen behind him and resisted the urge to sigh. The blond had learned pretty quickly upon entering the mansion grounds that trying to elbow someone who was a head shorter than you was just a bit short of Frau ever making the cut of becoming an Archbishop.

As it was, he was having a hard time dragging the boy around.

"Brat, you are gawking at the mansion like a village boy."

Teito rolled his eyes and proceeded to pull the collar of his robes from the bishop.

"It's big, alright. I haven't seen places so vast in size, since the Church...and the academy." He sobered immediately at the thought of the cold, military school and the torture he had to endure there. Frau noticed the dip in the teen's mood and clapped his hand on the back of Teito's shoulder, making the boy's knees buckle, "You don't seemed to have grown much since then, brat."

"Shut up, damned bishop!" Teito protested, a little too loudly. The servant leading them around the mansion turned around and asked nervously, "Is everything alright, gentlemen?"

"And brat." Frau added, grinning as he saw the look on Teito's face, "No, nothing's wrong."

Teito hmmphed and turned back to viewing the place. The two had been invited to the Mayor's mansion the following evening and were now inspecting the grounds for any sign of tainted objects or perhaps even Kor. After all, the best place to start was at the head of things.

Roland and his father had accompanied them, but he had kept quiet the entire time, occasionally nodding his head and smiling politely. His eyes darted towards Teito every now and then, with an appraising look, not that the teen noticed.

He wasn't the only one. Frau was also noting the drawn-out look on the teen's face, like it was an effort for Teito to even stand.

"What's that? Out there..." Teito pointed towards one of the windows that were shielded by heavy drapes, the dying light just peeking through. "Oh, out there is the main garden. We grow all our food and plants ourselves." The servant added this last statement quite proudly.

Teito peeked through the curtains and did a double take, "Wow...there are so many flowers! And outside of flowering season, too!"

Roland grinned, "We have our ways."

"I haven't seen these many except at the Church." Teito said, staring at the garden outside.

Frau raised an eyebrow at Teito, "You see what I have to deal with?" He asked them, "This here is my apprentice."

Teito whirled around, "I don't want to hear that from _you,_ damned..." He suddenly swayed unsteadily and just managed to catch himself by grabbing the end of the table.

"Ugh..." He sank to his knees and clutched his forehead in his hands.

_My head is killing me...my throat is burning up..._

_What's happening to me? _

_What's...? _He looked up and saw nothing but a blur of colours, slowly turning to grey. _What's going on? _Panic flooded through his mind, clearing it momentarily. He took in a deep breath and opened his clenched eyes.

And did a double-take.

_H-...How? _He looked around the room, _How did this happen?_

He could see the room clearly alright. But moments earlier, where everything had been in pristine condition, they now lay scattered across the broken tile-work, shattered into pieces or ripped into shreds. The paintings where filled with holes, weeping tears of water and blood. The wooden shelves were nothing more than a pile of splinters, all the delicate crystal-work and books torn to pieces, laying still and broken.

The curtains hung off the edges, desperately clinging on to the rail, revealing the withered plants outside, flowers drooping on the stems. But all this didn't affect the boy nearly as much as the sight that he beheld in the centre of the room.

A pile of rags lay on the torn rug, the snow-white colour barely visible under the rustic red of spilt blood. The bishop's hat lay askew on the floor near it, the veil ripped off the cap.

"_Frau!_" The boy's scream was both of mental and physical anguish as he rushed to the pile of rags. _Where...where is he? _

"Teito."

The voice behind him was not Frau. He whirled around and faced the sorceress right in the eye. "What have you _done_?" He hurled the words at the child-witch like it would cause her physical pain.

"Nothing. Yet." She said, unaffected by the boy's rage, "Not unless you comply by my demands."

"What demands? What's going on? _What do you want with me_?"

"I told you before, Teito. I've developed a certain interest in you. The future king of a dead kingdom...the wielder of the Biblical Light...and the holder of the Eye of Mikhail. All these accounting to one person...such a heavy burden it must be."

"It sure is, having to get rid of _scum _like you!"

"Scum? My, my, this little dog gets more playful every-time you toy with it." Her sickly-sweet smile nearly made him retch, "If you comply by my demands, I'll reconsider hurting your friend."

"Why Frau? Why not me?"

"I have no use for a broken toy. And have you forgotten how Mikhail keeps protecting you?" She pointed at the newly-formed red barrier a few feet away from Teito, crackling with the force of the angel's anger, "I can't even touch you unless you permit me to."

"No way in hell!" Teito said, taking a step forward, "I won't do whatever you ask and I won't let you hurt Frau!"

"Is that so? How pitiful. I was hoping for a new soldier to help me in my quest. But it seems you're too rebellious."

The room suddenly lurched to the side, hurling the boy towards the walls. The girl remained on the same spot, smiling coolly at the obvious pain on Teito's face, "And I have ways of dealing with rebellious soldiers."

Teito didn't know where the water came from. All that he knew was that it was suddenly there, up till waist-height, his face reflected in the murky black liquid. He didn't pay attention to the girl anymore, he focused only on the reflection of himself in grotesque fascination as his reflected self slowly raised his hand and grabbed his own neck.

Immediately, Teito's throat burst into flame and he cried out, gasping, clutching his throat with both hands. It continued to burn, desperate for something, _anything, _to satiate the thirst.

Mikhail's presence seemed so far away...and Teito was alone.

He felt himself sink in the water slowly. As his face disappeared under, the last thing he saw was the girl's face, and that wretched sweet smile.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

**DONE!**

**Yay, this is the fastest chapter yet! I'm happy I'm able to update so fast! Hopefully, you all will like this chapter as well, I worked very hard! **

**Thanks so much to all the awesome people who faved me and my story and gave me such kind reviews. I'll do my best to keep you all satisfied with the story, so please keep reading on!**

**Disclaimer: I am merely a hapless fan trying to spread the 07-ghost love. The only characters I own here are the badass villain and the Mayor and **

**his son. I do not own anything else, except the story of course. They all belong to Yuki Amemiya and Yukino Ichihara. God, how I envy **

**them...**

**Oh, and could you all please, when you have time, see my other story Ante Mortem? I want to know what could be improved there, and how Teito's song lyrics are, so I can do my best there as well.**

**Thanks again! You all **_**rock**_**!**

**From;**

**Justanothersinger**


	4. Behind Closed Doors

**Urgh. **

**I've apologised so many times for being late to update that it's not even funny anymore. **

**But I have an excuse this time! I'd been dealing with important jobs and on top of that I've started a new fanfic for Tsubasa Chronicles...*sweatdrop*...I swear I am a masochist.**

**And I'm not going to waste anymore of your time with my endless drabbles! Hope this was worth the wait!  
**

**Disclaimer: I don't understand why they make us write this...it's a bit like rubbing salt on the wound. But I might as well get it over with. Ok, *takes deep breath* I...do not own 07-Ghost...except for the mayor, his son and the badass villain.**

Well what are you standing...or sitting around for? Read if ya want.

**-Justanothersinger**

**(J to you and me~)**

Midnight Snow: Chapter 4

Behind closed doors

_Where was he? _was not the first question that echoed in his mind, at the time he opened his eyes to see.

See? Perhaps not truly, since there was nothing in the inky blackness for him to look at. He blinked slowly, trying to make sense of the stifling darkness.

His whole body ached, but not more so than his throat, which burned with unearthly fire, crying out for something, anything to quench his thirst.

He pushed himself up slowly and tried to peer past the unrelenting darkness.

Hearing returned soon after and with it, accompanied the soft, hitched sound of a crying child.

"H...Hello? Is anyone there?" Teito called out hesitantly, stretching his arm out.

Immediately, a spike of pain shot up his arm and he cried out, sinking to his knees again, suddenly short of breath, suddenly struggling to breathe. His lungs strained to work, leaden, weighed-down.

Almost as if he were underwater.

As if the words were waiting to be thought, the surface under him gave way and he gasped, as he felt cold water trap his breath and pour into his being.

_So cold..._

He shivered as he felt each life-breath leave his body. Death crept inevitably closer and in his vision, he was sure he could see a black shape, slightly darker than the murky water, bend over him.

_No, Teito. It's not your time yet._

Such calmly spoken words. Who would imagine that they would cause the worst pain?

The words that floated from his lips turned to bubbles upon the touch of water, but he knew Mikage could hear them.

_Mikage, no...don't leave me..._

_They all need you. You can see me again, but only after you help them._

What little he saw started to blur again. _Will you still wait for me?_

_Promise. That's what best friends are for, right?_

Tears mixed in water and blood, salt with rustic sweetness. Despite himself, he felt a smile creep on his face, _You idiot...you better keep your promise. _

_Only if you keep yours._

Teito felt that he could wait. Drift in here forever, until Mikage came for him. But...Mikage had said that he had something to do. Something...no, someone to protect.

His mind stirred again, but he immediately shied away from it, trying to avoid more pain.

_I have to...I have to wake up. _He gritted his teeth and braced for the pain. It came two seconds later and almost brought him to his knees. He wanted nothing more than to end this pain, this pain of breathing, the pain of _living._  
_But I don't want to die. _The absolute certainty of the fact rang clear in his pain-struck mind, and a light shone far above. His eyes closed and he felt the tears run down his face as he realized that even this wish would not be fulfilled.

"_Teito!"_

For a split second, his eyes opened and the darkness ceased.

"Stay with me, kid!" The figure grabbed the arm that the boy didn't even realise was held out for him; waiting always waiting for him. The bishop yanked Teito into his arms roughly. "Breathe, Teito! Damned brat, breathe!"

"F-frau..." Teito gasped as he drew in deep breaths, clearing the water from his lungs. He tried looking up at the man's face, but one gloved hand stopped him.

"Don't look at me now. Not now." The man's voice was rough, the arm that held Teito tightened uncomfortably around the boy. Teito's eyes widened when he felt a tremor rack Frau's body. Not heeding his words, he brushed away Frau's arm and stared up at him.

He didn't have eyes for the sudden, unusual paleness of the Bishop's skin, or the dark wing that leered at him as it extended from its growth on Frau's shoulder. He didn't feel the water suddenly leave his body or the unusual warmth in his soul as his mind and body banished the darkness.

He stared only at the dark depths within sapphire eyes, the light dying within them.

"Hang on." Was the only thing that the man said, as he tore his eyes away from Teito's.

_Now._

Teito closed his eyes as the smell of newly-polished wood and cold snow touched his nose.

_Now! _

And he opened his eyes to see the monster before him.

_NOW!_

And it wasn't Frau.

Teito leaped out of the way and narrowly avoided the claws that swooped at him, crashing into the oak desk. Pain returned a second later and he groaned, his grip tightening on the Bascules on his arm.

"So, the Kor was here all the time." He said, staring at the figure fitted with the servant's uniform. The man sneered at him, as it positioned its wings again, blade outwards.

"Don't stop now, brat. Finish it off." Teito peered behind him to look at the man who grinned cockily back at him.

"...Right." Teito took a deep breath and focused hard on the zaiphon. With the warm power rushing to his hands, he intoned, "_Return to what you once were, soul that stands tainted before me. Be no more."_ And he swung a ball of energy at the Kor's wings.

As it tried to leap out, the zaiphon clipped the Kor on the wing and it disintegrated to the touch. The Kor gave one final, terrible shriek before collapsing to the ground.

A rustle came from the right and Teito looked around to see Roland and the Mayor sheltering under the tables. Roland grinned at Teito sheepishly, "I've never had the chance to see a Kor exorcism before."

"Next time, you should go outside like I suggest." Frau said, his polite tone bordering on annoyance. Roland glanced at his father and then said, "I was worried when Teito fainted; I thought that you might've needed help, Bishop Frau."

"I..." Teito cleared his throat, "I'm fine, Roland-san. I just blacked-out...I haven't been feeling well recently."

"He's been staying up late reading porn books."

"W-what are you saying, you damned bishop?" Teito sputtered, flinging the Bascules at him.

"See? Back to normal." Frau grinned at the boy, "We'll be coming by tomorrow, before inspecting the town. Let's go, kid."

"...Yeah." 

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

There was a presence in his mind.

The realization was as natural as breathing. He instantly tensed, waiting for the attack that never came. The presence just watched him, copying his movements slightly.

"Mikhail...?" Teito asked.

A sudden shattering of glass to the right caught his attention and he looked around to see a familiar figure decked in a black cloak, small and hunched. It appeared entirely unthreatening...save for the broken bottle in her hands. Her cold eyes surveyed the flowing crimson detachedly, like a child tearing a rag doll just to see how durable it was.

But the figure in front of him was not a child.

"That is your true form, is it not?" Teito asked. The woman turned and smiled at him, devoid of any kindness.

"It is."

"And your true intention is not to kill me?" 

Her eyes closed and she let out a soft, scathing laugh. "No. I plan on doing something much worse than that merciful act."

"Why..."

"Because you stole something precious to me."

Teito's eyes widened. "Me? But I didn't-!"

"Yes, you did." Her tone dripped venom and her icy eyes became slits, "You did, you selfish, oath-breaking thief!" She advanced upon him like an enraged goddess, holding the glass shards so tightly, it pierced her already-maimed arm.

Teito's breath caught in his throat with a white-hot flash of pain and he sank to his knees, clutching at the collar of his robes.

"Yes," She cooed in a sickening voice reminiscent of her childlike self, "Fear me. Learn every inch of the pain that I bore upon my soul, suffering, suffering, suffering..."

Teito slowly heaved in a breath and looked at those frigid blue eyes. When he spoke, he knew his voice was clear.

"I won't fear you."

"You brat!" She raised her hand and Teito closed his eyes, waiting for the strike to come.

Cold liquid spattered across his face and he was shoved roughly to the side.

"Let me tell you something right here and now. I'm the only one who can call him 'brat'." Teito's eyes shot open and he caught sight of a familiar, deep-blue coat standing in front of him.

Frau was breathing heavily, one arm catching the woman's blood-stained arm, the other clutching his chest, which-Teito realised with growing horror-was stained with dark red.

"Frau!" His voice was unbearably loud in the silent air.

The man slowly turned around to face him, hiding his wound by drawing his coat around it. He walked to the shivering boy and bent down, on his knees so Teito could see the momentary flicker of emotion in those eyes.

Hurt? Why...was Frau's injury bad?

"I'm sorry, Teito." He placed one hand in the boy's hair and lowered his face near Teito's ear.

"_Pain_."

And the nightmare dissolved in a merciful world of pain and white.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

Frau had faced pain before.

He'd had to. Anyone would if they'd been converted from human to supernatural being.

Not to mention the cuts, bruises and fractures he had received both in his mortal life and as the trophies of his wins against Kor, Wars and dark forces in general.

It never actually hurt him.

Not until this.

He didn't know when the nightmare started. He'd been slacking off...sleeping more easily at night. He'd thought that Teito's nightmares were finally over and the only fear he had was for the army and the Kor.

He'd never been more wrong in this half-existence he called a life.

It was only because he'd been listening for something other than the heavy, night-time silence that he heard it.

The soft cries came first. Then came the choked, muffled noises.

And finally...the crescendo of pain-struck screams.

His eyes shot wide open and he rushed over to the kid's side, where he found Teito, curled in a foetal position over his spare pillow, jamming the top-half firmly in his mouth to muffle his scream.

On seeing this, Frau snapped.

He stood over the edge for long enough, thinking that the kid would never let him in...never trust him enough to say what it was that was bothering him.

He'd understood that. He'd respect that wish.

But not if it hurt him.

And without any second thought, he'd plunged himself into Teito's soul.

He'd seen the bitch that threatened the boy. He'd heard what she said.

And he'd heard Teito's response, heard him address her. Almost as if he'd met her before.

And there he knew, that he had to get Teito out of the dream no matter what.

It was the pattern of thought that kept him sane, that assured him he was doing the right thing. It stood by his decision, even as he whispered the single word that would awaken Teito and bring him back to reality.

It didn't console him when Teito finally awakened, screaming no less.

"Don't move brat." He felt the words fall flat in the air, but they seemed to alert the suffering boy to his presence. One look into those green eyes and he felt his resolve crumble to little more than dust.

Teito stiffened for a just a moment, as he felt the older man's cold arms around his body, before clinging on to him.

"It hurts..." He whimpered, "So...so hot, i-it's burning!"

"I know." Frau replied, tightening his arms around the smaller boy, "I'm sorry..." Even as Teito clawed at him, he drew his arms tighter around the boy, muttering almost inconsolably, "I'm sorry."

Over and over again, long after Teito had taken a deep breath to banish the pain from his body. Long after he stopped shaking.

Teito buried his face into Frau's chest, revelling in the coolness after the burning.

"Frau...I'm alright. It's ok, now." He tried to pull away, but the man's arms held him tightly.

"No. It's not." And the man's voice was much stronger than it had been before. Looking up, Teito saw deep blue spears pierce through him with the strength the bishop was devoid of before.

"Who was she?"

The secure feeling left the boy almost immediately. "What do you mean?"

"Answer the question."

"I can't answer the question if I don't know what you're talking about, Frau." 

Frau gave a humourless chuckle, "'Don't know what you're talking about' he says. After having nightmares for three weeks straight, all of them induced by her. The red-haired woman from your dream." A spark of recognition appeared in those green eyes before Teito squashed it.

Too late.

"Who was she, Teito?"

"I-I...really don't know what you're talking..."

"Don't lie to me!" Frau forced the boy's chin up even further, looking in his eyes for something that would give him some kind of clue, some reason as to why Teito insisted on lying to him, "Don't think that I'm some fool, some damned kid that needs taking care of."

"I don't think that! I..."

"Are you going to lie to me, again?" The words were spoken in a soft, scathing tone. A shudder ran through the boy's body, before he looked up and answered in a stronger voice than he knew, "Only if you keep poking your nose into my business."

The hands around him loosened. Before Teito could blink, Frau shoved him back on the bed and got up. With back turned to him, he said, "...So, I'm a stranger to you, am I? Is that what you're saying?" 

With all his dead heart, Frau wanted the boy to say no. He wanted the boy to make up some kind of stuttering excuse, some kind of protest from him to indicate that Teito...couldn't tell him for a reason other than the fact that Frau was nothing more than a companion to him.

There was no sound behind him.

He just couldn't take it anymore. He threw his coat on and walked away, out of the motel room, and away from the boy who his life...somehow, irrevocably started to revolve around.

Behind his retreating back, Teito sank back into his bed, throwing an arm around his forehead.

Behind his closed eyes, he saw the image that had haunted him since that fateful visit to Roland's mansion...a frayed carpet in the middle of a destroyed, dilapidated room, atop which lay a mass of snow-white and ruby blood.

"You're wrong." He said, quietly so the words wouldn't reach the man's ears, as the hand above his face curled into a fist, "I was lying to someone who lies back to me to protect me."

A mirthless laugh that filled the room, contradicting the expression behind the shield of his arm, "Now, we're even, right?"

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	5. Saviour be damned

Midnight Snow

Chapter 5: Saviour be damned

"Asuna! Asuna, be careful!" The woman called, "The ice is very slippery there!"

The four-year old girl babbled happily away to her mother, as she picked up yet another lump of ice from the stiff leaves. "Snow!" She cried passionately, smiling as wide as her tooth-less mouth would allow.

The man next to her laughed. "There's your answer, Shiki. She'll be fine." 

Shiki bit her lip and surveyed her little girl's progress, as the toddler plopped down on the ground and padded the snow with her hands. "Yasuhara..." She said, "Do you think this is such a good idea? I mean...I don't think..."

"This is the best place to have a picnic? Or the best day?" Yasuhara asked, grinning, "I don't think she minds." He nodded to Asuna, as she shrieked happily, pointing to the two, lop-sided balls on the sidewalk, "Snowman!"

"That's wonderful, sweetheart." Yasuhara called. The girl grinned impishly at her mother, "Mommy, look!"

"Do you want mommy to help you, darling?" Shiki asked. Asuna clapped her hands, "Mommy! Mommy, make me a snowman!"

"Ok, be right there." Shiki carefully made her way across the ice and knelt to her knees to scoop up the snow. "And you don't seem to be complaining either." Yasuhara noted, eyeing his wife.

"I haven't done this since high school." She smiled at him, "Makes me feel a bit like a delinquent."

"Yeah, sure, you were a real trouble-maker back in the day."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Yasuhara just chuckled and didn't answer. Shiki returned back to making a snowman with Asuna, while he stared off into space. As his eyes roved over the area, he paused. And stared at the area of snow-covered trees again.

Was it just him...or was there something strange about that place? He squinted harder and saw...a pair of eyes stare out from under a grey, ice-covered cloak.

"...Who are you?" He asked, taking a step back, towards his wife and child. The figure didn't answer, simply staring at him from the shadow of the evergreen trees. Yasuhara carefully took a few steps towards the grey-clad silhouette and looked harder. Now that he was closer to the figure, he noted something a bit off about the person.

"What...?"

The figure leaped out of the shadows and dashed past Yasuhara, towards the prone figures of his wife and child. The man whipped around, running as fast as he could.

He cursed the blasted white falling above his head, screaming at the top of his lungs, "_Shiki! Asuna!_"  
His wife looked up and her eyes barely had time to register the rotting claws that loomed over her head...

"Look out!" The grey figure pinned the rogue Wars to the ground, knocking it away from the woman. Grunting, he searched inside the robe and pulled out a vaguely-familiar cross-shaped object. The object was raised to the sky, and as it caught the sunlight, it pulsed with a vibrant brightness of its own, fluid-like and from what Yasuhara felt in the shockwaves that radiated towards him, like warm silk.

The grey-clad figure whispered the incantation over and over under his breath and the Wars that thrashed and struggled under him ceased and slowed to a barely-stirring shell of a soul who was struggling under the darkness.

"I'm sorry I have to do this." Their saviour said, as he raised the Bascules above her head. What was left of the woman's eyes found his and finally shed

the tears that they held for so long. "_Thank you..." _and she slowly crumbled to dust as her soul finally found the Chief of Heaven's side.

"Are you alright?" The boy asked them.

Yasuhara nodded slowly and went to his family at once. Shiki was cradling her little girl in her arms, while Asuna looked on with wide eyes. "You're alright...you're alright." He slowly murmured to himself as he tried to calm down. He helped Shiki to her feet and on ascertaining that the both of them were fine, he looked back towards the boy.

Their saviour was entirely focused on the task of shrinking his Bascules back to a mini-sized cross. Once that was done, he said, "Well...I'm glad that everyone is safe. I'm sorry for spying on you. Goodbye."

"Wait!" The boy turned back at Yasuhara's call and the man grinned at him, "Now what kind of hero doesn't stay to acknowledge the grateful public?"

"Hero? I'm not-!"

"I'd say single-handedly fighting off a rogue Wars with nothing more than a pocket Bascules counts for the acts of being an instantaneous hero. And a kid facing the Wars makes it even more astounding."

"Yes, well, I'm no kid." The boy replied. A little hotly, it must be admitted.

"Has anyone accompanied you out here?" Shiki asked, before her husband could wind up the boy any further. The boy shook his head. "No. I came out here alone."

"But won't your family be worried about you?" At this, the boy said nothing and looked off to the empty landscape, a wistful smile on his face. 

"...Where are you planning to go now?" She asked again, tactfully covering the awkward silence. The boy shrugged, "My...teacher is down at the town Square, so I was planning to go down there to watch him."

"Would that be the Bishop in town? That would make you his apprentice then." 

He nodded silently and did not elaborate the matter.

"Well, it so happens that we live around there. And it looks like it's really about to snow now." Yasuhara added, as he looked at the drizzle of white that slowly increased the tempo of their flighty dance. He smiled at the boy," If you want, we can drop you off."

"There's no need! I-!" Unfortunately, he didn't argue fast enough, for Asuna at this point, had sneaked out of her mother's death-grip and moved close to the boy, with adoring eyes.

"Big brother gonna play with us?" She asked, in a sweet, high voice.

"B-big...brother?" The boy pronounced slowly, uncertainly.

"And it looks like she's taken a shine to you. Looks like you have no choice." Yasuhara swept up the little girl in his arms and raised her to the air, his beatific smile gracing his face when she squealed loudly. They walked back towards the car, oblivious to the teenager who stood behind them, at a loss for what to do.

"It's alright." Shiki assured him, smiling kindly, "My husband can be incredibly…persuasive, but he means well."

"I see."

"We should probably follow him, before he leaves us behind." She sighed, "I wouldn't want him getting lost in the woods _again._"

At this, a faint smile appeared on the boy's face. Shiki observed it from the corner of her eye, and, her back still turned, she mirrored it with one of her own. "Come on, then." 

"Teito."

"Hm?" 

"I...I never told you my name. It's Teito. Teito Klein."

"Likewise, I suppose. Where are my manners?" The woman said in mock horror. She did a little curtsy and grinned at the boy, "My name is Shiki Kaori, my husband's name is Yasuhara Kaori and our little girl is named Asuna. I suppose it's the least I could do, considering you saved our lives and all."

"But I didn't..!"

"Actually, according to us, you did. And I'd think our opinion matters most, don't you agree?"

"Uh, well..."

"You should come along, you know. Yasuhara won't let you off until he's shown you the wonders of Zion. Oh, you've probably seen most of the city, but you haven't _truly _experienced it until you've faced the ultimate challenge." At the words, she spread her arms out and Teito had the brief image of confetti showering at them from both sides.

"And what's that?"

"How many minutes you can survive the town's toughest challenge: _Listening to the mayor's festival speech_."

Teito laughed; a startled laugh, but a laugh nonetheless. "I think I can understand." _Archbishop Jio is a good man, but Lord forbid him near the podium. _

"The longest record was 11 minutes for us." Shiki stated, "Which is almost as long as the time we're taking. We better get back before Yasuhara and Asuna really go at it."

"Alright."

"Besides, we wouldn't want Bishop-sama to worry about you now, would we?"

Shiki's back was turned at this point, so she didn't see Teito's fingers curl inward to fists, with enough force to break skin. "No." He replied, his expression shadowed by the dim grey light, "We wouldn't want that."

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He should be happy about this.

He _should._

According to Glasses, anyway.

Frau sighed and restrained the urge to yawn. Not that the mayor would notice. The man had actually walked up the stage, as if it were some auspicious ceremony and started addressing the crowd, thanking them for their patience and to rejoice in the arrival of a bishop, who possessed the ability to stop Kor from harming them and was more than willing to share this protection with the townsfolk.

In all honesty, any mortal would be able to protect themselves with just a minute amount of Church knowledge and a lot of strength-the kind that originated from the soul. But Frau wasn't in the mood to knock the mayor off his high horse, especially when he seemed so absorbed in his own speech.

Plus, he provided excellent lodgings and food. With the hardships they have to endure, Frau and Teito had been trained to adverse conditions, but even then, the rooms had been a welcome change.

Though, he had to admit, the circumstances were more than a little suspicious. The number of attacks and mysterious illnesses had started no less than a year ago, yet he barely found any tension in the townspeople. Indeed, it could be said that they were...more adapted to the curious cases than they should be.

One of the reasons he didn't need Castor to lecture him to be careful.

And the other one...well, he thought with a mirthless laugh, it wasn't like he could entirely forget about it. Not when it was staring him in the eye with that damned arrogant expression he knew like the back of his hand.

What was with that kid? Any feeble assumption that the pressure to fulfil his goal and the stress from travelling finally got at the boy vanished the instant he'd stared at those green eyes, completely devoid of expression; a look so familiar, that for an instant, the Bishop was transported back to a time with little hope and so much blood and tragedy around him, it was a wonder he did not reek of rotting flesh.

Who was that woman? Was it a figment of Teito's own imagination or was she real?

...Someone from Teito's past?

It was possible. But why would Teito try to hide it from him? Frau had already acquainted himself with Teito's demons, Ayanami being an apt example. It wasn't like he couldn't understand what the boy's issues were either, having gone through similar problems himself...

Frau mentally pushed himself away from that line of thought before he could continue any further, willing himself to try to listen to the mayor's speech.

Focusing on any monotonous word he could grasp, anything that would tear his thoughts away from that night.

It was at this point he raised his eyes off the hardwood floors and looked at the crowd seated in front of him. Eyes roving the faces that were entranced in the same stupor; he saw them by the thousands.

He was about to look away when something caught his eye. He paused and scanned the crowd again, uncertain of what he was looking for.

On the third glance, he found it.

At first, he didn't know why the sight interested him so much. There was a family huddled towards the edge of the group, straining their necks towards the stage. This group was exceptionally bright-eyed and, like Frau, they were scanning the crowd for something. The little girl that was with them appeared the most eager, standing on the tips of her toes, shielding her face from the glare of the sun. She was so intently focused, she didn't notice that she was precariously leaning over on one foot hopping like a little jack-in-the-box.

At this point, the other child bent down low and picked the girl up, positioning her on his shoulders. The girl squealed in delight and gripped the child's hair. As he looked up at her with a sheepish smile on his face, the hood fell off and Frau found himself staring at the very face he was trying to forget.

_Teito...?_

He was brought back to reality by the scraping of chairs and the echoes of clapping in the air, as the mayor finished his address.

"Finally." Frau heard Roland mutter behind him, "That must've been 12 minutes long." The boy got up and hopped off the stage, vanishing among the crowd.

"Bishop-sama?" He looked up to see the mayor stand next to him, "Is everything well?"

The question caught him off guard.

"Yes. Why do you ask?"

"You didn't seem to appear well this morning." 

"I didn't get much sleep last night." Which was true in a way.

"Is that so? Well, I'm sorry if it was impertinent of me to inquire. I merely wondered if all was in order." The mayor looked slightly uneasy now, and Frau wondered what expression he had on his face. Judging by the unnerved look carved on the other's features, it was probably a shade paler than a death glare.

"I'm the one who should apologize." Frau finally admitted, willing himself to calm down, "I was just out of it for a while, to be honest."

"I see."

"The baptism ceremony will be starting in half an hour, right?"

"Yes. But if you want to postpone it..."

"No, I'll be there. Thank you for your concern."

No sooner had the mayor turned towards the stage-hands did something small, furry and very loud smack itself on Frau's head. The man barely noticed, only reaching up and pulling at the little pink fluff-ball that had attached itself on his hair with a sigh. "Where've you been these past few days?"

Mikage squeaked in protest, waving off the gloved hands that pulled at him and settled down nicely among the blond spikes of his hair.

Really. Frau had to appreciate the ludicrously funny situation at hand, albeit with a dry chuckle. He persisted at pulling the fyulong dragon off his hair and finally won the battle; Mikage having consented and going to sit on Frau's shoulder instead.

Unbidden, his eyes swept back up to where Teito stood, looking so calm, so happy...so at peace.

"The kid needs you more, you know. You don't have any reason to be jealous." Frau said softly. Mikage looked up at him with bright, intelligent eyes and back at Teito again, watching as the boy now pulled the little girl off his shoulders and proceeded to teach her how to build snowmen.

Something, Frau thought, that Mikage taught Teito himself.

The fyulong snorted and head-butted Frau on the chin irritably. The unexpected move caught Frau by surprise and he almost barged clean through the wooden stage partition that he was leaning on.

"The hell was that for?" He demanded. Mikage didn't respond, but merely sat there, looking at Teito. As Frau found himself following the line of vision once again, he murmured under his breath, "I'm the reincarnated version of a damn death lord with a scythe that has a mind of its own, who can barely keep all his shit on one plate. The last thing I need is a dead kid lecturing me."

The wind had, by this point, started to howl louder around the stage and the town, but even then Frau could have sworn he heard a soft, warm and very familiar chuckle.

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"Higher! Higher, big brother!" Asuna squealed happily as Teito plucked her off his shoulders and started raising her towards the sun, a bemused smile on his face.

"Is this alright?"

"She's the one that's asking for it." Yasuhara shrugged, "Besides, she's taken quite a shine to you." The man smiled adoringly at her, "I'm surprised to tell the truth. She's never related so well to anyone out of her age range. You should know though, that she's my little girl and if you ever try anything on her..."

"_Yasuhara..._" Shiki said in an exasperated tone. Teito, however, was more pre-occupied with attempting to balance the girl on one knee to give his arms a rest...that is, until he heard a shout behind him.

"Teito!" 

"Oh, Roland-san?" He asked, without turning around. The boy stopped in amazement, "Wow, that was impressive. Do you have extraordinarily heightened senses in addition to your amazing bishop powers?"

"No, I just guessed."

"And who is this charming little lady?" Asuna smiled sweetly back at Roland, as he peered curiously at the little girl. Shiki nodded at him, "That is our daughter, Roland-sama."

"What's your name?"

"Asuna!" The little girl answered promptly, all the while tugging at Teito's robes. Taking the hint, he hoisted her on his shoulders again, while Roland gave him an amused look.

"Better get used to that fast, Teito." He commented knowingly. Teito raised an eyebrow at him questioningly.

"I have two little sisters at home." He admitted, grinning, "They know how to act like angels and all, but they seriously give me hell."

"I bet it's...eventful."

"That's an understatement and you know it, Teito." Roland reached up and tickled the girl under the chin, making her laugh and grip Teito's hair. "Are your sisters here too?" 

"No. They're with my mother in the next town." Roland didn't comment further, but Teito had an uneasy feeling that he stepped on shaky grounds. Before he could say anything, Shiki came to his rescue, "So, you've come to attend your father's address?"  
"Actually, Bishop-sama was supposed to do the address today."Roland rolled his eyes, but the grin was back on his face, "I wanted to make sure no-one fell victim to a boredom-induced coma." As Roland looked back at Teito, he noticed something...well, off about the boy.

He was still playing with Asuna, a smile on his face, but his stance was stiff, his actions forced. And...there was something in the way he was acting, something in his eyes...

"Are you alright, Teito?" 

"No." The latter said, so softly Roland thought he misheard. "I'm sorry, what...?" He was about to ask, but was cut short when Teito looked up, his eyes full of undisguised misery, shadowed by weariness. Asuna looked up at him, concern in her own.

"Big brother?"

And then the world exploded before him.

His body reacted instantly before his mind could catch up; he instantly shielded Asuna with one hand and dragged Roland out of the line of fire with the other, falling to his knees and bracing them against the cold ice.

_What the-?_

The screams came a second later, as the townspeople broke into a panic, pushing each other out of their path to get away from the area. Teito coughed, forcing the snow out of his throat, cracking an eyelid open to the bleary light.  
There was a tiny silhouette against the sun, too small to be an adult, cloaked in heavy grey wool. The child was bent over, gasping for breath and clutching at the wings that grew on the back, skeletal and foreboding, as they flared to the weak sun.

The child seemed to feel Teito's eyes, as she looked up. Through the hood, Teito managed to catch a glimpse of wild red hair before she jumped into the blue horizon that stretched above her, angling low towards where he stood...

"Get out of the way!" He snapped, pushing Roland and Asuna down, as she swept past. He could feel her laugh grate in his ear as she landed on the top of a lamp-post, sneering disdainfully down at him.

_No..._

She could not be real! She only existed in dreams! 

As if sensing his line of thinking, she said, "My talents extend beyond merely manipulating dreams, child. You were never safe, even in your waking moments." The sickly sweet smile was back on her face, and Teito could almost feel the sour taste of bile on his tongue just by seeing it again.

"He was never safe either."

Those words shattered Fear's hold on Teito and he stared at the woman-child with new-found strength, "What do you want?" Even through his calm words, he felt his anger rise every second he looked into those damned mocking eyes.

"You."

The answer caught him so off-guard, he stumbled for a moment, "What?" 

"I wish for nothing more than for you to suffer, and for that, it is more satisfying if I, myself, inflict that anguish upon you." The smile took on a blissful undertone. The child with a new toy. "Do you not agree?"  
Teito's response was to draw out the Bascules again, which she surveyed dryly, "Oh, that's right. I forgot; you are much more of trouble in the real world, which is, sad to say, much less subjective to my whims. But I tire of this." Her skeletal wings flared out again, as the colour of her eyes started to darken.

"I'm not going anywhere. No-one is!" The anger finally started to show in his voice and he felt his hands sting, as the red Zaiphon travelled up the Bascules.

The smile lasted for a second longer, before it faltered. That was the only warning she gave before she launched into the sky, reaching for him with claw-like hands. On seeing her assault, Teito breathed in and felt the powerful surge of his Zaiphon flood through his body.

_Please, _Teito whispered fervently, _please let me protect them. All of them. _

The red calmed to orange, to topaz, to a brilliant blue as he faced the girl. In one single, smooth movement, he whipped his hands out in front of him and threw the energy at her. She snarled and pushed the Zaiphon out of the way with her hands, swooping past him in the process.

"Foolish boy! You have no idea who you are playing with!" 

He merely started gathering his energy again, before she could attack. He was about to channel it through the Bascules, when he suddenly noticed the cold feeling that seemed to creep down his back...like ice down his spine...

"The hell you _doing _brat?" Teito gasped as something hard caught him in the stomach, cold as ice. The movement brought him to his knees, but a sharp, stinging pain in his cheek forced his eyes open.

Frau was standing over him, a stormy expression on his face, as his scythe fed on the sliver of darkness that slid past Teito moments earlier.

"Frau...?"

"That thing would've skinned you alive. Watch yourself." He glared at the girl, and Teito understood that the attack was merely a ploy to get him off-guard for a sneak-attack from behind. The girl hissed at them, her wings angling low. Without any warning, she jumped and flew straight towards Teito again.

"Look out!" As Teito readied himself with a new surge of power, he felt Frau tense up behind him, and felt the cold chill again, this time near his back, a warning that trickled up his spine.

"Frau, _no_!" Teito tackled the bishop to the ground, as their attacker flew past. The course of action left him slightly disoriented, but he was still able to sense…and see, the dark tendrils that crept out of Frau's tattooed arm…

"Not here, Frau!" He hissed, "All those people…even if they can't _see _the scythe, if you attack without a Bascules-!"

He stopped abruptly. Frau's eyes stared coldly at him, with a sort of resigned determination that the boy had never seen before. "They'll see what they see." He said with finality, trying to push the kid off him.

"No! I won't let you!" Teito pushed the man back down, avoiding another dive by the cursed woman-child.

"Move over, kid."

"I said no!" He glared furiously at the older man, "I won't let you destroy the life you created! I won't…I'll never let you sacrifice everything you have." To his eternal shame, Teito felt the burning sting of tears in his eyes and he rubbed them furiously.

"Teito…"

"Why?", He demanded, hating the way his voice cracked, "Why do you go through such lengths to protect me? Why would you give up everything to protect someone…someone who doesn't have the strength to raise his arms in defence, a coward who can't even save his own skin?"

_Because that's what I am. A coward who drags others to the quicksand that clasps his soul in order to save his life. Frau is going to die by this woman's hand and it's all because of me. Because I…_

He felt cold leather touch the back of his hand and long fingers pull his hands away. Teito blinked and looked back down at Frau's eyes. The cold determination was still there, but there was a touch of warmth, a gleam of some emotion that he couldn't place.

"This is the end!" The woman-child shrieked at him, drawing his attention back to her. She crouched into a feral position and launched into another attack, and this time, she was dead centre. There was no way she could miss Frau and Teito this time.

Frau felt the teen move above him and he saw Teito's Bascules gleam in the wintry light.

"This time, I have to try." Teito whispered, holding up the sceptre like a guard.

_Bang! _

All of a sudden, there was confusion as the snow on the ground whipped around them like a mini-tornado, pelting them with marble-sized pieces of hard ice. Teito coughed as some snow found its way in his mouth but didn't falter, looking around for their attacker.

An anguished scream pulled at his attention and he saw the child struggle against the sudden snowstorm, her wings flared far behind her, attempting to carry her out of the icy onslaught.

"What the hell?" Frau choked from under him. The man struggled, but Teito refused to budge, his eyes trained on the girl's every move. That is, until he saw another flash of white before him.

He froze.

_No…that isn't possible. _Even as his mind tried to deny it, he saw the white shape again, this time just a few inches from his face. It was human-shaped and the 'arms' were stretched out in front of the boy.

The child shrieked in frustration. She raised her voice over the pounding wind, "I'll get you for this, Teito Klein! I'll get you for this, if it's the last thing I do!" Her wings flared out again with sudden intensity and the momentum propelled her away from the wind and into the safety of the sky.

Teito did not see her escape, nor did he hear what she said. He only had eyes for the shape in front of him, willing with all his might, that he was merely dreaming, praying that he would wake up…

But as he heard Frau curse softly, he knew that what he was seeing was reality; cold, harsh reality. The human-shaped figure turned and as he saw its face, the word…the name leapt unbidden to his lips.

"_A-Ayanami?" _

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**Um…hi guys. **

**Erk, this is awkward. I…uh…I'm…**

**I'm sorry! I'm really, really, really, **_**really, **_**REALLY, **_**REALLY **_**sorry!**

**Oh man, I knew I should've submitted it early. But things have been crazy the whole year, and I've got so much to do! I don't want to leave my stories but I…I just had to.**

**I'm serious. The last year was really crazy, but this year's even worse. I'll try to do my best to give you all more chapters too! But…don't expect any miracles. *sigh* Story of my life…**

**Oh, by the by, thanks sooooo much for those kind reviews on Papercuts. I would've just said so on the next chapter of the story (currently under progress), but considering I dunno when I'll have time to finish it, I thought maybe I should get it outta the way. Seriously, I checked the review list, and I was like, holy ajhskdalsd, 10 reviews for one chapter? O_O**

**I didn't know I wrote it **_**that **_**well. But I'm honoured. I mean, it's my first M-rated story, and I'm still technically a rookie as far as the actual story-writing thing goes (heck, it took me four sugar drinks to get me signed up on Fanfiction; I was pretty much a closet writer before then) so I thought it would be hopeless…thank you all so much for taking time and reviewing it! ^^**

**Thanks again for giving Midnight Snow a chance and kudos to all the people who faved the story! Y'all really know how to brighten my day, even after a real crappy class! **

**Love to you all!**

**-Justanothersinger**

**(J to you and me~)**


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